Clarification: I believe there are 80,000+ students in Utah Charter Schools,
and about 9% of the state student population attends them. The discrepancy may
be because the study was done a couple of years ago, but the article is written
as if those numbers (40,000 students and 7%) are current numbers, and they are
not accurate as current numbers.

I don't care about the amount of money spent on charter school students. I
want to see what the outcomes are. More money doesn't equate to better
outcomes........see the federal government as Exhibit A.

So the charter schools
are no better than traditional? Considering they get a lot less funding (per
this article) per student, the return on investment is far greater than
traditional schools. Less money for the same results......good job, Charter
Schools!

In the beginning charter schools said they could do more with
less, and they haven't. Charter schools may have a lottery, but they are
able to write rules that make them more restrictive from the start. When
students fail to follow those more restrictive rules, they are able to send them
back to traditional public schools. When looking at students in charter and
public schools its an apples to oranges comparison.

I really wish people like yourself would not make stuff up
and try to sell it as fact. Charter schools are governed by the state and have
little to no control over who gets into the school based on the lottery system.
Furthermore, Charters must follow state and federal law regarding dismissal of
students. They cannot simply kick out students they do not want.

At
one Charter I worked at there was a student who had he been in a District school
would have been expelled and sent to a different school within the district
after his suspension was complete. Since that Charter lacked the option of
sending him to a different school we sent teachers to that child during the
later half of his 45 day suspension. After the suspension was lifted and he
returned to the school I was assigned to sit with him. We simply could not expel
him.

In the future Fred44, I'd appreciate it if you comment on
what you actually know first hand.

I have not been to any charter school nor have my children.
I have friends who have taken children to different charter schools and in each
case I was told that their were rules for students and rules for parents and if
those rules were not followed then the child's privilege to attend that
school could be terminated. So you are telling me that every charter school
must take any and all students (including all levels of special ed students) as
long as they win the lottery and they must keep them regardless of their
behavior, whether they fulfill all the requirements for students and parents in
their charter for that school? No charter school for any reason other than safe
schools can stop a student from attending after they win the lottery? If that
is the case I apologize for spreading misinformation.

Regarding your
comment about a student being expelled that your charter kept, I am assuming you
understand that short of doing a drug deal on campus or bringing a loaded gun
student cannot be expelled from a traditional public school?

Since charter schools are educating the kids equally to the district schools,
shouldn't we be asking what the extra money is going to since it apparently
is not making the district schools any better. Can you imagine what could be
done if the schools had that extra money to hire another actual teacher or 2?

There are more justifiable causes to expulsion with most of
those requiring involving law enforcement. This was the case. We could not
expel the student so had to assign someone full-time to be with him while at the
school.

The lottery process is the only variable. There is one
additional rule regarding Charter enrollment and that is for non-attendance. If
a student does not attend the Charter for ten school days they are considered
withdrawn and the records are sent to the district where the student resides.
This occasionally happens in August and early September.

I am still
at a Charter school this time working directly in the special education
department. We have had several students that require additional services that
through the lottery were accepted into our school. Several of these kids came
from self-contained cluster programs within the districts. We find the way to
best meet the needs of those students and often that is within the general
education classroom with an assigned aide.

So you know I've had my children in charter, public and private schools.
Each had some advantages quite honestly. But when it comes down to it, only the
public schools HAVE to take every student that lives in their boundaries. That
is why they need more money than charter schools. They are likely to have more
troubled students, more special education students, more ELL students etc.
Private schools can kick out any student at any time like they did my son in
three weeks because he was too difficult. Interestingly enough he didn't
"win" the lottery at his charter we wanted to get him in while his
sister did. Again, all systems have their advantages. My daughter did well in
the private school which had much smaller classes. But my son, who has special
needs, has done best in the public system. My daughter has done well in all
three settings. I would also say generally no private school is worth the
tuition. The only exception may be kindergarten where theew might be very small
classes available. Other than that a good public school is as good as any
private school. Save your $$$.